Interview with BLACK OATH

by Vpower

The Band: Black Oath

Country: Italy

Answers by:A. Th (vocals, guitar, bass)

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BLACK OATH were formed in 2006 by A. Th with the intention to perform obscure and dark heavy metal. Their last effort “Behold The Abyss” is probably the best so far and represents what they are capable of, and as his leader A. Th states, they put no limits to themselves. A band in constant growth and a cool chat with a guy that says what he thinks no matter what.

Hello A.Th, “Behold The Abyss” is your forth full-length and will be released through High Roller Records on 16.11.2018, how do you feel about it?

Hi there, the new album is our best so far and we couldn’t be more proud to release it through High Roller recs. They showed a lot of interest about the band and we easily found a deal. Now it’s time too see the fans reactions..

A long way since your debut with The Third Aeon, what changes has seen your music since that time?

Well, we changed a lot indeed… I am the only one who survived the first line up but I can assure you we have the best alchemy now. The songwriting process is more various and the research of details is stronger than before… We certainly grew in a better way… a darker way

A.Th is still the mastermind of the project, that emphasizes the DNA of the band?

I keep the DNA alive yes! As I said before many things changed but the blood flowing in the band’s veins is still the same. Being a leader means to work harder than everybody most of the time..but what makes BO a real band is the dedication and contribution that all people involved brings within the band.

A leader is leader for sure. How long have your worked on “Behold The Abyss” and how was the composition process?

It took almost 3 years. We rehearsed hard and stopped live activity for long just to dedicate 100% of our energies in the new songs. We brought all of our musical influences and experiences and we even had high and low moments but once we felt the moment was right, we have returned to the same studios as “to below..” 2015, but this time we think we made a step above it ..

The base is still doom, but we also find a heavy edge and some prog passages I would dare to say

To be honest the label “doom” doesn’t belong to us anymore,, We describe our sound as “CURSED ROCK MUSICK” .. We have no intention to play slow and make hippies/stoner fans happy, we want to crush ears with real old school guitar riffing! It seems people forgot lessons given by Rhoads, LaRoque, Murray/Smith, T.G.Warrior, Mantas, Euronymous ..

Thumbs up to that. As an Italian band, the legacy of names such as Death SS, Paul Chain, Goblin is present in your album, enriching it?

We love all bands you mentioned so yes, they could have influenced our music as well as Black Hole, Venom, Mercyful Fate, Bathory, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath ..

The title track, Behold the Abyss, kicks off the album, I cannot think a better way to do it

I agree. That song is a perfect opener and it shows all the elements of the album. Real dark atmosphere with crushing riffs and prog changes. It is perfect to introduce the listener through the morbid journey contained in almost 50 minutes of darkness

Lilith Black Moon is one of those songs, as I said before, where you show a more aggressive side, a trend to follow in the future or just the rage of the moment haha?

That was the last one we wrote and we almost made a Black Metal song! Nobody knows if we will play faster in the future.. It just depends by the inspiration and feeling .. There are no limits for us. We will do what we want always.

Once Death Sang features Elisabeth from Riti Occulti and has a gothic rock influence, how was that collaboration?

We made an European tour with R. Occulti and become close friends. The idea was born during our show in Holland I think .. Me and Elizabeth were singing King Diamond songs in the backstage.. so, why not a real collaboration for a future release.. then done! She is an excellent vocalist and totally blew me away ..

Black Hole and Black Oath share a similarity in their names and are prominent representatives if the Italian doom scene nowadays

Black Hole is one of my favorite bands of all times! I can call myself lucky to be friend with Mauro (now returned with legendary EPITAPH). A real gentleman and great musician. But Black Oath name is totally devoted to M.fate second album. Btw I think both Hole and Oath are a perfect representation of “doom” (you force me to use this term ha) .. not only in Italy.

Haha at last you said it How difficult is it to make a live performance of all these elaborated songs?

Oh well, sometimes is really hard to perform a song exactly as we record it. But on stage we wanna show another face of the band. While you enjoy the atmosphere and macabre feelings of the record you must be totally blown away with brutality by a live performance. We don’t play music to sleep, it must be aggressive and poisonous no matter if some of the arrangements are missing. Come witness a real metal show!

And that is the big thing about live shows. So, any plans to hit the stage in the forthcoming months?

We have 5 shows before the end of the year. We already played in Zurich and Milan and we will go this week end for the first time in Malta with Necrophobic, Ancient Rites, Demon etc.. we have a headliner show in Germany and then back to Austria for doom over Vienna. We will perform a new song only but in February 2019 we will tour around Europe with the new album out. Pretty sure we will hit stages in Spain too…

Excellent news for the Spanish metalheads! Doom Metal is, may be, one of those styles living a second youth, compared to other genres it seems it never becomes old or out-of-style

I would say Doom metal is a real trend nowadays. The worst ones are the 70’ies look like bands. Don’t get me wrong .. I love those with real meaning (The Devil’s Blood are pure EXCELLENCE) but it is obvious than lots of sheeps started to grow beards and wear like hippies to join the “occult” rock trend. Black Oath must be remembered as Nifelheim, Procession, Celtic Frost, Denial of God, Watain, DeathSS ..

Agree with that. Thank you A.Th and congratulations for your good job, if you wish to add something…

I thank you for your interest in Black Oath. See you on tour maybe … A.th